National Food Strategy – Part One and Henry Dimbleby’s Oxford Farming Conference Speech

Summary

This record encompasses the first part of the independent National Food Strategy commissioned by the UK government, alongside Henry Dimbleby's keynote address to the Oxford Farming Conference in January 2020. Part One focuses on the most urgent pressures facing the food system — including food insecurity, diet-related ill health, and the environmental costs of food production — and argues for systemic reform rather than incremental policy adjustment. The speech contextualises these findings for an agricultural audience, emphasising the interconnection between farming practice, land stewardship, and population health outcomes.

UK applicability

This document is explicitly UK-focused and directly relevant to UK food, farming and land-use policy; it provides the policy architecture within which agricultural and public health stakeholders operate, and is a foundational reference for any work engaging with UK food system reform.

Key measures

Diet quality indicators; food insecurity prevalence; land use pressures; obesity and diet-related disease rates; food system environmental impacts

Outcomes reported

The report and accompanying speech outline systemic failures in the UK food system, including poor diet quality, environmental degradation from food production, and inequitable access to healthy food. It sets out a framework of recommendations intended to inform a formal government food strategy.

Topic tags